Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Every single novel had a teeny little beginning. The initial spark of an idea. That thing that came very first that made your brain go crazy with the possibilities of where to take it.

Thinking of your WIP, what element came first for you? Plot, Character(s), or Setting?

If you had asked me this question and I had to spurt out an answer without giving it any thought first, I would have shouted, "Plot!" (Because you tend to shout when someone tells you to spurt an answer.) As I actually thought about it, though, it's so not plot for me. It's setting! In fact, when I look at every book I've written, it's been setting every single time. I'm not 100% sure why it is that way for me. Maybe because I like to travel, but don't get to often. Maybe it's because I love when a book takes me somewhere unique. And for the setting to truly effect every aspect of the story, it has to be in my mind from the very beginning.

So now it's your turn! And since a) we haven't done this for a while, b) I'm home writing today, and c) I love pictorial representations of random questions, I say we do this as a picture graph!

Several times during the day (and tomorrow, too), I'll update the graph based on your comments.

Ready, set, go!

P.S. Thanks so much to Colin D Smith for the Versatile Blogger Award, and to Kelley at Between the Bookends for the Two Thumbs Up From a Skunk Award! I feel honored, guys. Thanks!

58
comments:

I write code based mysteries so for me, I write the code first then think up the characters who would write such a code then wrap a story around that. SO I guess for me, it's PLOT because the code is vital to the plot.

Hmmm...It's funny, I'm just like Deana. I had a whole scene in my head - boy and girl walking together alongside Nebraska cornfields at sunset, then holding each other tight and flying off over them - so that pretty seamlessly incorporates all the elements.

But I guess I'd had the *idea* of the story in my head a split second longer than that, so I'll say PLOT. :)

Oh jeepers. Umm...I'd have to say, character, plot, plot, character. Though, the writing goes much better when character comes first, so I suppose I'd go with that. I can say with complete confidence that it has never been setting. I stink at descriptions and often have to go back and add setting.

I'd have to say the characters came first. Now, to pick second and third, it would be much harder because sometimes I get a plot and sometimes I get a setting and sometimes they are so intertwined that it's the whole "chicken and egg" thing. :)

For me, I knew I wanted to write about Fae; faeries and elves. So I'm not sure if that's characters or setting, but more a genre. I guess when you get down to it, it's setting, because I knew I wanted a world switch from reality (or I guess urban fantasy) to the fantasy world.

Kelley-- Interesting! I love that you've experienced all three, but found one that works better for you than others. I have you down for characters.

Delia-- Even though mine is setting, I used to always go slim on the descriptions. But there's this one person in my writing group that LOVES description more than anything, and he said almost every meeting, "There wasn't enough description." I started putting it in there *just* so I didn't have to hear that sentence at our meeting. :) Eventually, it became much more natural. I wanted to cry the first time he said, "The description was really good!" I have you down for character.

Cherie-- I have you down for characters. And I almost went the whole chicken-and-the-egg theme on this post! You're right. A lot of times it's hard to tell which one actually came first.

Misha-- Fascinating! I have you down for characters.

Tonja-- I totally get that. I started one story, but had to put it on the back burner. It started with plot, because that's what it needed. (But setting was 1/2 a second behind that! Apparently, I really like setting.)

Amanda-- :) I have you down for setting.

Joshua-- Wow! You are CURRENTLY working on three? That's impressive! I've got you down for both plot and setting.

Cynthia-- I've come to where I don't ask, I just go with it, too. It all works out better that way. ;) I've got you down for both plot and characters.

S.P.-- Your comment made me laugh! I'd be willing to bet that a lot of pantsers start with characters. It seems like the most natural way. I've got you down for characters.

Steph-- I love it! I have you down for setting.

Ruth-- I hear you! I have you down for setting.

Nina-- I think that people generally have one that they excel at, and others that hey really have to work at. I have you down for plot.

J.A.-- Ooo! I like that! It's good when two come naturally after you get the first. I've got you down for plot.

Patti-- I didn't know what to put you down for, so I did both plot and character. :)

I am totally a character author. Characters typically determine how I write the plot--or what the plot is. Plot and setting are absolutely necessary, but if there aren't characters that captivate my attention, I could read a brilliant plot with the best setting and not want to read much more of it. It's all a balancing act--making sure your story has everything it needs, because different people will be drawn to different things.

The MS that I'm revising in preparation for query (is it still called a WiP at this point?) started with a character. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I knew I had to write about this character.

The newer WiP started with a plot. Or more correctly, a situation. So I guess that's a plot. I've actually had a couple of ideas that are plot-centered, but never had anything that started with a setting.

Laura-- I'm the same way! It doesn't always mean that plot comes first, though. It just means it has to come before I start writing. :) I've got you down for plot.

Emma-- Good point! I've got you down for characters.

Brandy-- Thanks! I've got you down for characters.

Emily-- Ooo! I love that it's in the same order for you every time! Very interesting. I've got you down for characters.

Laura-- Thanks! I totally agree that if the characters don't captivate you, you don't care much about everything else. They just aren't my first thought. ;) And yes! It's definitely a balancing act. I have you down for characters.

Jeff-- Yes. If you're still working on it, you can totally call it a WIP. I love that you had a character you just had to write about! Since you have two WIPs, I've put you down for both character and plot.

Character... My characters rules the universe, where they go (setting) is based on what they are doing or effecting (plot) but with out the character to guide it all the others are just pretty landscape, and people i don't care to know doing things i don't care about.

Mine tend to begin with a general concept. For example, a magic helmet. Then I create the setting, characters, plot, etc around that concept. It's good to have something (or someone) to have your story revolve around. :)

I think I would go with "characters"... I've been quietly playing around with a story for the past long while where I'd written a quick 3-paragraph response to something, and the girl in the scene kept whispering to me, "Please don't leave me here." (lol I think "other writers" is the only group of people who will not think that sounds weird and in need of therapy.) But, she wouldn't leave me alone...

Interesting question! For me, it's actually concept...which can sort of include all three elements. It's usually plot-related, though.

Found it interesting with my most recent story, though, that I had a plot concept for one story, a setting for another, and a character for a third...and none of them worked until I combined them into one story!

You’re making me get to the point where I have to start questioning everything. I was certain that it was plot. But on reflection, it’s not. The location is key to the whole plot. Without the location, the story wouldn’t have the (for want of a better word) twist. (It’s not really a twist, more of an odd solution to the puzzle.) A throw away comment on a tv programme about a geographic oddity set the whole story in motion.

Krista-- Ahh. I love MCs that are unique and easy to fall in love with! I have you down for characters.

Angela-- Ooo! A twist! I love it! I have you down for plot.

Stacy-- No, you can't! And it's not because I'm jealous that you get all three come to you at once. ;) It's because you guessed maybe setting, and I heart setting. :)

Lance-- Ah, yes. Characters that rule the universe definitely... rule the universe. They're what make you care about everything! I have you down for characters.

David-- That's fascinating! I love it! But it doesn't fit into my neat little lines of my graph. I guess in a way, it could be considered all three. :)

Jo-- Oh! And how can you turn your back on Please don't leave me here! I can see why you didn't. I have you down for a solid "characters."

Rebecca-- Aaa! We're right in the same place! So very awesome! My first-spark buddy, you. I've got you down for setting.

Jessie-- You know, it's not 10:00 in the morning EVERYWHERE. ;) I've got you down for plot, because your plot rocks!

Carrie-- Awww. It unfolds around them. So poetic! I've got you down for characters.

Shallee-- I love that you combined three stories to make one! It sounds so perfect! Brandon Sanderson said that was pretty much how Mistborn came to be. He took a world from one book, a magic system from another, and the MC... I think she may have been new. So fascinating when that works out! I have you down for plot.

Maggie-- Haha! PLot is definitely hard! I've got you down for both setting and characters.

Charlie-- I love an interesting magic system! I don't know how to categorize that, though. Is it setting? Because the magic wouldn't work in another world? Or is it plot, because it affects it so much? I guess it could even be character if it was something unique to that character...

Iain-- Yes! Someone else who immediately assumed plot, then decided it was setting! Mine is similar. It's kind of a twist, but not really. Definitely a huge factor, though. I love that a single comment can inspire an entire book! I have you down for setting.

Imogen-- Hahaha! I know, right? It's just a pesky thing. ;) I have you down for both characters and setting.

That's pretty cool that you get the setting first. I'd love to yell character, but now that I think about it, it may be that a situation occurs to me first and then the character who's gonna play the starring role comes after.

Mmmm... not sure how to answer this. You see, my WIP started with a "what-if": what if a teenage alien landed in Victorian London? So it was really a concept. I didn't have a plot. I had a setting, but it wasn't so much the setting that inspired me. In fact, my very first thought was a teenage alien in medieval London. But I thought Victorian London would be a more interesting play on the concept--so the setting was subservient to the idea. And the character, the actual alien, came last.

Characters. Weirdly enough, it wasn't the protagonist who came to me first. It was a major character but not the main character. I came up with him later and then he started taking the story over, causing me to rewrite the beginning.

Caroline-- I was relieved to see so many others started with setting, too!

Tasha-- I had no idea where to put you, so I just put you in all three. ;)

J.L.-- I love that! The character who's going to play the starring role. Since you said the situation comes first, I put you down for plot.

Ladonna-- Awesome! I've got you down for plot.

Jillian-- That's totally fine! I'm sure everyone who put down character didn't totally know the character from the beginning, and as a setting-sparker, I know very well how much of the setting WASN'T included in that initial spark. It was the teeniest spark, really. A miniscule fraction of what it was to become. I've got you down for plot!

Colin-- That is so interesting! And so very not clear-cut. ;) Okay... I'm going to put you down for character, since your first spark of an idea was of a teenage alien, but the initial spark of a setting was changed. Sound okay?

Adam-- Ahh. I heart world building. Makes me all wistful just thinking about it. And thanks for helping me out on the magic system! I have Charlie down for setting now, and you down for setting as well.

Connie-- Ooo! Very interesting! I love it. I've got you down for characters.

Kristine-- You seem like someone who would be strong in the plot category. I've got you down!

If I were a fiction writer, I would say that, like you, I think about the Setting first, then Plot with only a few major characters, then the rest of the Characters last.

But I'm a teacher who is currently writing a non-fiction book. So when I think about what I'm writing I try to organize it in the same way as I would teach a lesson: Start with the key concepts, organize them in a logical fashion, flesh them out a bit, and then add great story-telling (true stories) to drive the concepts home.

Usually, it's the character's voice that comes to me first. She or he will talk to me for about a month, a week..however long it takes before she or he completely eats my brain, chews, until my fingers vomit on the page...in their voice.

I write action / adventure books for middle grade readers, and I'm represented by Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties. I have two books released-- SKY JUMPERS and THE FORBIDDEN FLATS (both action / adventure, for ages 8 and up, with Random House Children's Books). I love happy kids even more than I love cookies, I make lists as often as I eat lunch, and I love having every light in the house on almost as much as I love writing.